WUNRN
India:
Chaste Wives & Prostitute Sisters
Women
born into a Bedia family remain unmarried. They engage in prostitution in order
to provide for the economic needs of their natal family. And Bedia men have
developed a strong resistance to any change in their mode of living, writes
Anuja Agrawal.
The Bedias' situation departs considerably from the 'man the breadwinner, woman the home-keeper' model. The economy of the Bedias, insofar as it is dependent on prostitution, is sustained at two levels by women's labour. The Bedia men on the other hand are the most parasitic members of their family.
24 January 2008 - Engagement of women in prostitution with familial consent
is widespread among some of the erstwhile nomadic groups such as the Bedia,
Nat, Sansi, Kanjar, and Bachada found in north, northwestern, and central
India. In north India, the Bedias are the best known for pursuing prostitution
as a familial occupation.
Women born
into a Bedia family remain unmarried. They engage in prostitution in order to
provide for the economic needs of their natal family. Bedia brothers, that is,
the men, although not economically productive, do marry. The wives of the Bedia
men do not engage in prostitution. But they are largely responsible for all the
domestic work including cooking, washing, cleaning, and childcare.
It is
interesting that members of the Bedia community resort to starkly contradictory
representations of the prostitution of their women. They vacillate between two
extremes. The weight of tradition on the one hand, and the "choice"
of individual women on the other. A middle-aged wife said, "This is going
on for many generations. We don't even know. It has been going on from the
times of our ancestors." But she added a little later that "earlier
no one knew this occupation".
On
another occasion, she explained to me, "Earlier we used to do like this:
Sometimes we would camp in one village sometimes in another. We used to beg and
survive. Then one ancestor of ours started this tradition. He put his daughter
into this 'dhanda'. He even set out all the rules of the trade. And ever since
then, this has been going on in the community."
In yet
another conversation, the same woman said: "Our ancestors started
it". But her sister-in-law quipped in: "No, it was not really the old
people/ancestors. Sisters and daughters started this of their own will".
A crucial
feature of the Bedia families dependent upon the prostitution of their women is
that women do all the well-defined work within and outside the household. The
wives of Bedia men generally accomplish all the domestic work. A wife cooks,
cleans, washes, and takes care of all the members of the household including
her sisters-in-law and any children that the latter may have. In areas where
the Bedia women migrate in order to engage in sex work, their children are
often left behind and brought up by their mothers or brothers' wives. The
domestic labour of a wife in her husband's household frees the unmarried Bedia
sisters and daughters to engage in sex work. The needs of a cash income are
fulfilled by the prostitution of unmarried women or the non-kin women kept for
this purpose within a Bedia family.
In sharp
contrast, Bedia men do not engage in any kind of wage or even non-wage work for
the major part of their lives. While the community members do own some land,
the young Bedia men do not participate in its cultivation although some of the
older men do so intermittently. Families owning some cultivable land employ
wage workers from other castes/communities for agricultural work during the
harvesting season. In some families, the land has been let out to sharecroppers
despite the availability of labour within the family. Bedia men sometimes
participate in domestic chores. Under some conditions, the men may engage in
some gainful activities such as agriculture, rickshaw pulling, or some other
work involving manual labour. But they barely ever do so consistently and in no
case are they primarily responsible for the sustenance of their family.
The Bedias'
situation departs considerably from the 'man the breadwinner, woman the
home-keeper' model. The economy of the Bedias, insofar as it is dependent on
prostitution, is sustained at two levels by women's labour. The Bedia men on
the other hand are the most parasitic members of their family.
It is hardly
surprising that the community members draw a clear correlation between men's
inactivity and their increasing dependence upon prostitution. It is extremely
difficult to have a precise estimation of income from prostitution; the women
generally work with a daily target of earning a certain amount through
entertaining an approximate number of clients.
Accordingly,
they tend to calculate both earnings and expenditure on a daily basis. The
situation changes somewhat with the migration of women who remit earnings more
or less regularly. The Bedias in Nagla admitted that a fixed amount comes from
Mumbai where many Bedia young women had migrated in recent years.
In
1999-2000, most Bedia women maintained that they do not accept anything less
than Rs.50 from any of their customers for a single visit. This minimum figure
had been raised to Rs 100 by 2002.
Women also
said that the "rate" depends upon their perception of the paying
capacity of the customer. In fact, Rs 100 is said to be the rate for a sadak-chaap
(run-of-the-mill) customer while a man who seems better off can even be asked
to cough up Rs 500. Westerners and other foreigners are welcomed for their
"dollars" and generally higher paying capacity. Even the curiosity
value of the hamlet sometimes earns the community members gifts in money and
kind (soap, shampoos, lipsticks, ball-pens, etc.) from passing foreign
tourists.
The earnings
in Mumbai are much higher than Nagla or even Delhi brothels. One girl can
easily earn anything between Rs 2,000 to 3,000 in a night's work.
The women
also claimed that the chances of their finding a stable, reliable, and wealthy
patron were much better in Mumbai than elsewhere. Such men often provided the
women with living accommodation worth Rs 700,000-800,000, gave them Rs
20,000-30,000 toward their monthly expenses and did not hesitate in parting
with another 50,000-100,000 if the women asked them to do so for any special
occasion.
Now, it is
undeniable that all Bedia women cannot earn in such high figures. But the
significance of the "possibility" of this kind of income can barely
be underestimated.
The most
likely employment options of Bedia men are as agricultural workers, workers in
the informal sector, or in petty business keeping. The income possibilities
from occupations that are the most likely economic options for the Bedia men
are far inferior as compared to possibilities offered by prostitution. While
the income possibilities from both unskilled and semi-skilled occupations range
from anything between Rs 25 and 250 per day, the usual daily income is likely
to be in the bracket of 75 to 150. The Bedia women expect to earn anything
between four to 10 times this figure, if not even more.
Bedia men
have developed a strong resistance to any change in their mode of living.
There is
also much that the community does to redress the feeling of incapacity that the
men might have. Just as small children are made to feel important about little
things they do, so are Bedia men treated. For many of the married men with
grown-up children, "shopping in the city" is mentioned as foremost
among the activities. Similarly, irrigating the fields occasionally or getting
fuel-wood from the forest are all bestowed with a disproportionate importance.
Men's visits to the local courts to deal with the police cases registered
against their sisters are also treated as "work." Thus, even though
most Bedia men do not contribute much to their family economy, they are not
necessarily allowed to confront this fact on a day-to-day basis.
The security
of living in a more or less comfortable home with no responsibility is not
something Bedia men are willing to easily give up. (Women's Feature Service)
Anuja
Agrawal
24 Jan 2008
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